


All The Pretty Words For You

by Phailet



Category: Pocket Monsters | Pokemon - All Media Types, Pocket Monsters: Sword & Shield | Pokemon Sword & Shield Versions
Genre: Confessions, Getting Together, Light Angst, M/M, Mutual Pining, Pining, Post-Canon, Slow Burn, bede gets jealous for like a week, i hate rose, no beta reader i didnt beta read it either i die like this
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-02
Updated: 2020-11-02
Packaged: 2021-03-08 19:28:01
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 19,775
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27351967
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Phailet/pseuds/Phailet
Summary: Bede takes being Victor's rival a bit too seriously, then promptly falls head over heels in love for said rival and is incapable of dealing with his feelings in a normal way.
Relationships: Beet | Bede/Masaru | Victor
Comments: 4
Kudos: 77





	All The Pretty Words For You

**Author's Note:**

> So this is my first experience writing fanfiction in YEARS, the first time being a Borderlands fic in 2012 when I was actually 12, so I'm hoping this one turns out a lot better than that. Also I wrote this very self-indulgent fic for very self-indulgent reasons, I am literally describing my customised Victor from my game, which is to say, a complete edge lord, but you are welcome to imagine your own Victor in place of mine as well. I didn't beta read this. I skimmed through it. I may have made continuity errors, I wrote this over four months, so I'm expecting that at this point.
> 
> Also, I used to be toixy on Tumblr and I'd post a lot of brattyshipping art, but then Tumblr decided to strike down my account for no reason, so I started a new one! Find me @/toi44 on Tumblr, I'm re-establishing myself I guess? Hope yall enjoy:

A year after his life gets turned upside down, Bede finds himself slumped unceremoniously against a bench just outside Ballonlea gym, his bags packed as he waits for his scheduled corviknight taxi to show up. New gym challengers are hard to find this far into the current cycle. Apparently most had been wiped out by Kabu early on, leaving him to take on the thirty or so that remained after Allister, and by now he expects the few who remain to be facing Raihan or gearing up for battle at Wyndon- where he's expected in just a few days for the much anticipated league tournament.

It's strange, he sometimes thinks, that he who never got a chance to prove himself past the fourth gym now finds himself miraculously gifted the honor of being Galar's fifth gym leader. It's certainly not what he expected, but with Rose behind bars, and the unbeatable champion now beaten by an even more unstoppable force, he's not quite sure what his goals are at the moment. He supposes he'll throw in his luck with the rest of Galar's hopeful pokemon trainers, all vying for a chance to butt heads with he-who-beat-Leon. 

(It's impossible, he thinks. He remembers the league a year ago, his gigantamaxed Hatterene staring down Victor's dynamaxed Skuntank. A powerful blast of one of Hatterene's attacks had shaken the arena, and that skuntank had stood there almost unfazed. Victor is terrifying, and that makes him the most worthy opponent in all of Galar.)

He looks forward to seeing his rival again.

\--

"Ah, Bede, finally decided to show up?" Marnie's voice is the first he hears once he disembarks the taxi. He mutters a quick thanks to the corviknight, who offers him a pleased chirp in response, before turning to deal with the other gym leader. 

They find themselves in similar situations, both newly appointed gym leaders still trying to fill the shoes of their teachers. He gets along with her better than most, though that isn't exactly saying much, considering the ugly thoughts he gets when he sees her around sometimes that he tries to ignore. Maybe he's jealous she got to work her way through all the gyms. Maybe.

"Unlike you, I had important responsibilities to look after. I don't suppose you'd understand," he scoffs, hand on his hip as the other hoists his carrier bag over his shoulder.

"You sound just peachy today. Long ride?" She offers him a teasing smile.

"Nope, perfectly bearable. Now if you excuse me, I ought to find-" 

"He's at the hotel," she interrupts him, and he doesn't know why he immediately flinches in response, one foot still midair as he'd turned to head off.

"Pardon?"

"Victor. Said he'd be waitin' on ya at the hotel," he doesn't quite feel like looking at what expression she's making. 

"....Right. Then I'd best be on my way." 

He walks on, balling his hands into fists at his side as he hears her call out a faint 'See ya in the arena!' which he opts to ignore in retaliation. 

\--

He remembers Victor, still fresh off the boat from Alola, fighting through a cold as he attempts to give the cameras his best smile for the gym challenge's opening ceremony. If he hadn't been endorsed by the champion himself, he probably wouldn't have paid the boy any notice, just another one out of hundreds of trainers all hoping they'd be the one to put an end to Leon's winning streak. 

He's just another trainer, fortunate to have everything handed to him on a silver platter, Bede had thought. The boy's grandparent had been a retired gym leader, and now the champion himself had decided to offer this child his support. Bede's different. Bede is a prodigy, sponsored by the chairman himself, and-

"Ah, you're the guy from before!" He heard someone call out to him as he'd been midway through keeping tabs of his star collection from the mines. And as luck would have it, he'd found himself face to face with champion-endorsed trainer 44, hair now bleached a shocking white, a rookidee perched atop his shoulder. 

Bede found himself in the lead up until his solosis got promptly knocked out by a swift jab from the aforementioned rookidee. This wasn't how it was supposed to go. He's a prodigy- This is nothing, this can't be how he suffers his first defeat.

"Man, you sure know how to put up a fight," Trainer 44 laughs, as he moves to offer the rookidee a potion. And then he briskly turns to Bede, covering the distance between them in an instant, offering his hand towards him. Bede thinks about slapping the hand away. He should, with this boy daring to defeat him so casually, and then-

Trainer 44 is holding a revive, no, he's offering it to him. "I'm Victor, nice to meet you."

Bede slaps the revive out of his hand and stomps off to the nearest pokecenter anyway.

\--

They fight, again and again, Bede growing stronger each time, crushing more trainers along the way, and then he fails, and horribly so, at that. It doesn't last, and before he knows it he's going through some of the strangest and most intense training he's ever faced, driven purely by rage and the latest updates on the gym challenge.

Melony sends twenty trainers falling out of the competition. Piers eliminates most of those who challenge spikemuth. And Raihan barely leaves any trainers standing for the final bout of the challenge. Among the names, he spots Victor, jersey number 44.

Victor, who goes on to defeat the so called unbeatable champion, and now demands the attention of all of Galar, ready to prove himself as one worthy of his title, one more powerful than Leon could ever claim to be. 

Bede doesn't know what to make of any of it, really.

\-- 

He doesn't even need to step foot into the budew inn to know that Victor's nearby. He finds the champion's Pangoro and Skuntank lounging in the sun, eyes peacefully shut as a few passerbys snap photos, excited to catch a glimpse of the celebrity pokemon before the tournament's even begun. 

They pay him no mind as he takes a deep breath, steels his nerves, and pushes the heavy inn doors open- To find Galar's miracle champion just as unconscious as his pokemon, curled up in a ball on one of the sofas alongside the rest of his team. 

Bede rolls his eyes as he does not hesitate to stomp over and give the sofa a hard kick, the lot of them causing a scene as their sleep is so suddenly interrupted.

"What the- Bede! Long time no see!" Victor goes from irritated to delighted quite quickly, he notes. And there are dark rings under his eyes.

"Why on earth are you sleeping in the lobby, waiting for me? Don't you have a mansion to lounge about in?" 

"Oh, you're severely overestimating the financial benefits of being champion," Victor laughs, though Bede's certain he's never heard him say anything more depressing. "Anyway, how are you?" 

He watches the remainder of Victor's pokemon rush out the door, leaving the two of them alone in the lobby, apart from the receptionist. 

"Just perfect," Bede grits through his teeth, as he heads for the front desk. "You're looking like shit."

"Yeah, champion duties and all that. It's fulfilling work, though," Victor grins even as Bede tries his best to appear indifferent about... All this.

"And you're slacking on those duties now by coming to see me?" Bede scoffs.

"Well, yeah," Bede moves to hit him, and Victor collapses back onto the couch in a fit of laughter. "I was joking! I've got nothing on my schedule at the moment, just waiting for the tournament to start." 

Bede makes no effort to hide his contempt, in spite of how difficult it is with the champion in a giggling fit less than a meter away.

"Right, and I've been meaning to ask you, how's Opal doing after her retirement?" 

"Dunno. She packed her bags and ran off to Alola the moment she felt I could handle things on my own. Said she had an old acquaintance to catch up with."

"Ah right, forgot about that for a moment," Victor laughs it off.

"Alola's your home, isn't it?" And besides, didnt you already hear about this? Bede wants to ask, but won't actually.

"Yep, born and raised in Heahea city."

"Are you... going to return home eventually?" Bede ignores the way his heart sinks as he anticipates a response.

"Huh. If i just up and left Galar, that makes Leon the champion again by default. And I'm not sure how i feel about forcing this job back on him. Besides, after ten years of all this," Vincent gestures sloppily to himself and just everything in his general vicinity. "The guy deserves a break."

So it's a no then. (He's relieved.)

"Hmmph. Fair enough," Bede shrugs, stopping to offer the receptionist his full name and reservation details, accepting his key card with a curt thanks and heading for the lift.

"C'mon, let's head up, I'll help you unpack," Victor says through a yawn, moving to hold the doors open for him. Victor, his greatest rival, is holding the elevator for him, and offering to help him unpack. Bede wants to laugh. But instead he opts to stand there, frozen, as he processes everything.

I could use the help, he wants to say. Here's what his instincts supply him with instead: 

"Absolutely not," and he storms into the elevator, leaving Victor stunned speechless, a hand still jammed against the elevator doors.

"Don't be like that, we're friends, right?" Victor groans.

"Rivals actually."

"But friendly rivals, Bede," Victor smiles. Bede's heart does a flip and he doesn't have the time or will to unpack any of that.

"Don't be stupid. Anyway, I'm sure you have fans to entertain, go be a champion, find a tagline," Bede sneers, jamming the button for his floor. And he can see Victor trying not to laugh, damnit.

"Ah well, if you say so. See you around, Bede," Victor shoots him a wink as he turns, readying himself for a long walk back to the stadium. 

The doors shut.

Bede gets a glimpse of himself in the mirror. His face is red, all the way up to his ears, and his heart is pounding against his chest. He slumps against the wall before he reaches his floor.

This can't be good. And he's certainly not going to think about any of this right now.

\--

"Hey, kid! I've been meaning to meet the new gym leader. Anyway, say cheese!" Raihan is insufferable. They'd run into each other in one of the training rooms, and Bede had made an attempt to duck out immediately upon finding Raihan there, snapping a photo of his duraludon. It had not panned out the way he wanted. On instinct, he screws his eyes shut tight against the flash of Raihan’s camera, turning his face away as far as he can (approximately a clean 90 degrees to the right) as the man ducks down, knees bending such that his total height is almost halved in order to fit them both in the same frame.

Bede continues to glare, never averting his gaze, even as Raihan seems oblivious to his wrath and continues to swipe through the freshly taken photos, inspecting each of them carefully. 

“Damn, you really just froze up in all of these. Not exactly something I’d put up online, wanna try again?” Raihan steps towards him, the rotom phone already flying up to find an appropriate angle.

“I’d prefer anything but that, actually,” Bede grunts, trying his best to be as minimally respectful as possible, something that can loosely be considered a smile forced onto his features. Chin up, and get your hands out of your pockets, boy! Show respect to your seniors! Opal would’ve shouted. It seems her training stuck with him after all. Perhaps a little too much. And Raihan is the 8th gym leader after all, and despite his bravado and sometimes obnoxious tendency to drag others into his online lifestyle, his rank is a testament to his strength. He’s nice, and his ability to think on the fly in battle is almost unmatched. 

“Hey, suit yourself. I didn’t just stop you for that, by the way. Wanted to ask about the tournament brackets,” Raihan’s demeanor drops almost completely, now much more relaxed as he slumps back onto a nearby bench.

“They’re not even out yet. Supposed to be announced shortly after this,” It’s a lot easier to talk now that Bede doesn’t have to be on the lookout for a surprise photo shoot. 

“Yeah, yeah, I know. So here’s the deal- There’s the two new trainers who made it through the challenge. Promising bunch, but I’m not sure they’ve got the potential to take down our new champion,” Raihan starts, gesturing towards the television they’ve got in the corner of the room. Victor’s face is on screen, the announcers making predictions for what team he’ll bring out this time. “Then there’s the five of us who battled it out in the qualifying, off-broadcast round. Milo, Nessa, Allister, you, and of course, me.” 

Bede nods. He has no idea where Raihan’s going with this.

“So I was thinking- Previously when Leon was champ, they’d always separate us on the brackets. They had faith that Leon and I’d make it to the end, so they could get that grand old final battle between the two of us. Fated rivals, and all that. Really brings in the views.” 

“You’re not sure if they’ll do the same this time with Victor?”

“You could say that. Frankly, Rose didn’t see me as nothing more than Leon’s punching bag during these tournaments. I mean, my brand is really just two things- The dragon gym leader who’s a pretty stellar influencer,” Bede rolls his eyes. “And Leon’s number one rival. No offense to Leon of course, the man’s a legend, and a great friend. Now that Leon’s out, what do you think they’re gonna market me as? Am I just ‘Raihan’ now?”

“Well. Yes,” Bede states, matter-of-factly. “Or maybe they’ll do the same. Put you as far as possible from Victor on the brackets. Maybe they’ll just market you as the champion’s rival, no matter who that champion happens to be.”

“Nah, I doubt that. Leon and I were easy to promote as rivals because we grew up together. You don’t get that kind of a connection with any random trainer off the streets,” Raihan says, half chuckling, though Bede senses a bit of a grimace in that. “Well, if I’m going to be ‘just Raihan’ from now on, better step up my social media game.” 

Bede’s about to try his best to offer what could be considered words of encouragement, when the door is abruptly thrown open with a thud that makes him flinch and almost knocks Raihan out of his seat.

“Brackets are out!” Marnie yells, barging in and looking up at the screen. Bede turns to look at them, almost a little too quickly, as Raihan seems as relaxed as ever, walking behind them to investigate the brackets as well. 

“Well, it looks like I’m not stuck in the role of ‘Champion’s rival’ after all,” Raihan laughs, a little relieved, yet a little bit sad. “They’ve got someone else in mind.” 

Bede burns the image of the bracket into his skull, committing it to memory. He’s up against one of the new trainers first. After he wins that match, he’s up against yet another new trainer, or Milo. 

“Me?” Bede says, sounding a little too baffled for his liking.

“I mean, you did make a whole show of confronting him mid-tournament and declaring yourself his rival, didn’t you?” Bede wants a gulpin to swallow him whole, killing him instantly. It is not a memory he enjoys reliving.

“And don’t forget, the two of you are pretty much polar opposites. Your pokemon are fairy types, his are mostly dark,” Marnie adds.

“Then why won’t they declare me your rival?”

“You forget I’m not the champion. Yet. And you get what I mean.” 

Bede sighs, taking in the rest of the brackets. Raihan’s up against Allister first, and the winner of that round is facing off with either Victor or Marnie. 

“Well shit, sorry about that match up, Marnie,” Raihan sighs. 

“Have a little more faith in me, ye just might see me knock Victor out in round one,” Marnie smirks, and Raihan grins. 

Raihan leaves first, saying he’s off to find Allister to make sure there won’t be any ill feelings during the fight, no matter who emerges victorious, and Marnie departs soon after, off to find her brother. 

Bede can’t seem to calm his heart, thrumming violently against the interior of his chest. He forces himself still, clutching his shirt tight, not once turning away from the screen, even as it moves on to another scene- Victor’s interview. He can’t quite make out the words.

So, he’s to be the champion’s fated rival then, now that Hop’s gone off to study? The pressure’s building. All eyes will be on this fight, and the organizers know he’s going to make it to the end, pitting him against newcomers. Is that what he felt earlier? Flustered from the pressure of unconsciously knowing he’d be expected to face off against Victor, a seemingly unbeatable foe? Might as well give the audience a damn good show.

\--

Bede checks his social media a little bit later, before the game starts. He’s got a few thousand followers on it, all from a little bit after his first appearance at last year’s tournament, and he’s barely posted anything. He’s been tagged by Raihan, in a post with upwards of ten thousand likes, his expression pitiful at best and embarrassing at worst, with Raihan flashing an award-winning smile for the camera.

‘Go get em, @bede_908, hope to face off against you later!’

\--

Bede doesn’t see Victor at all before the game starts. He suspects- no, he knows it’s because the producers are keeping him busy with interviews, photoshoots and the like. There’s a crowd gathered downstairs, explaining the never-ending barrage of camera clicks and flashes going off, alongside the shouts of the paparazzi all trying to get the champion to look their way. 

When that ends, he hears Victor’s voice coming softly from the speakers, the volume turned down as Bede focuses on readying up each member of his team. 

Victor’s wearing his casual clothes still, a leather jacket over his uniform, quite similar in appearance to those worn by trainers specialising in dark-type pokemon. He’s seated on a rather comfy looking couch, the interviewer mirroring him, though Victor’s got an enormous skuntank seated at his side, head resting on his lap as he pets it through the interview.

“So, what can we expect from you this time? Any interesting new strategies you don’t mind sharing?” 

“Can’t say I’ve got a proper strategy for my team, honestly. I believe it’s better for us to remain flexible. I trust they’ll get us through these upcoming battles.” Victor laughs. 

Bede believes that. Victor’s never been one to have a plan, preferring to charge into most battles, welcoming the unexpected. He likes that about him. He thinks.

“An admirable approach, Victor! Now, I’m sure you’ve seen the two newcomers, Hubert and Florian.”

“Of course,” Victor nods.

“And you know the other gym leaders. Is there any fight in particular you’re looking forward to?”

Victor lowers his head, appearing to be giving the question quite a bit of thought. He’s honest. He wants to answer this as truthfully as he can, and Bede knows that.

“Marnie’s a formidable trainer, and with our team having mostly similar types it’ll be quite interesting. From what I’ve seen, Florian’s Dusknoir seems like it’ll be a tough opponent to beat, and I’m excited to see how it handles Milo’s team. But if I had to choose one fight that I’d like to have…”

Bede tenses.

“I’m looking forward to battling Bede.”

“Victor, you idiot!” Bede bites his lip. That didn’t sound scripted. The writers didn’t get him to say that. He’s adding even more fuel to the fire, their image as fated rivals is sealed. 

“He’s an amazing trainer, an admirable gym leader. And he’s a wonderful friend. Any battle with him is bound to be fun,” Victor grins into the camera. Bede feels like he’s standing right there, that Victor’s looking right at him. Well, he is. He buries his face in his hands. He can’t make this up. Victor’s an insufferable rival to have, making him go on this rollercoaster of emotions, all in the span of a few days. 

The interviewer continues her line of questioning, Victor continuing to go on and on about his team and his expectations.

And Bede lets his newfound feelings of rivalry swell up. Yes, that’s what this is, of course. There’s no way it’s anything else. This confusion he feels, it’s because they’re rivals now. These are feelings of competition. 

\--

He sees Victor once. 

It’s the beginning ceremony, the trainers walking out onto the field to stand before the crowd. Victor emerges last, now donning his proper battle uniform, waving to the stands, a relaxed smile gracing his features- Confident, but not arrogant. 

He smiles at the other seven of them, already properly lined up. And his gaze reaches Bede. He holds the stare a little longer. Bede doesn’t let his emotionless facade break. And Victor breaks the stare, heading to the opposite end of the line. 

Strange, he thinks. Victor looked almost disappointed.

\--

Victor wins in his match against Marnie. Of course he does. But Marnie made a damn good stand against him, getting him down to his last three pokemon. Raihan emerges victorious, though in an intense battle, Victor emerges champion of his bracket.

The newcomers pose quite a large threat, Hubert taking down Milo, but Bede has no problem wiping out Florian’s team, and does the same with Hubert’s. The final battle remains. Bede stares up at the monitor from the waiting room. His portrait on one half of the screen, Victor’s on the other. A minute remains.

\--

On one end of the field stands Bede. The crowd cheers, and he notices a few in the stands holding up signs with his name on them. Some wear his colours. He supposes the performance he made last year must have gotten him more supporters than he thought. The announcer yells out his name, drawing excited screams from the crowd. He offers a wave, a confident smile, and returns to a more focused state as his opponent steps out onto the grass. 

Victor walks towards the middle of the field slowly, calmly, meeting him there. The audience goes wild, all thrilled to get another glimpse of the newly crowned champion in action. After ten years of the same tricks, they must be excited to see what Victor brings to the table. The screams are deafening, but Bede’s learnt to shut it out. He cannot afford any distractions now. The champion waves, getting a good look at the entire stadium, and bows, drawing even more cheers. Not as flashy as Leon was, not as theatrical, but it’ll do for now. He has time to learn. But no- Bede is here. He’s the champion’s rival now. If anyone dethrones Victor, it’ll be him. 

And now Victor turns to face him, his rival, and meets his gaze. For a moment, Bede thinks Victor is studying him, searching his features, trying to read him. But Bede holds fast to his concentration. Now is not the time.

“I’m happy it’s you,” Victor smiles.

“Likewise,” Is all Bede offers, as they part, though he swears Victor lingers there a moment too long. They reach their posts. The whistle goes off. His Mawile is sent out first, and Bede is hellbent on taking down that Tyranitar as soon as he can.

\--

An hour later, Bede sits in the waiting room, head in his hands, leaned back against a wall in one of the waiting rooms. Of course Victor won, what did he expect? The boy took down Leon. No one could defeat the man for a decade. Victor is leagues ahead of him. He needs to get better, needs to train even harder if he even has a chance of living up to the title of the ‘Champion’s Rival’. He needs to push himself to the brink, or chance being labelled a disappointment on national television. 

“Feeling alright?” Comes Raihan’s probing from the door. He snaps his head upwards. Raihan’s left his hoodie somewhere else, and he’s got a towel strung around his neck. He’s still cooling off from the earlier battles, he supposes. 

“Absolutely fine,” Bede groans, returning to his previous stance, which he now realises to be rather pitiful, so he settles for instead sitting cross-legged and staring daggers into the wall in front of him. 

“Hey, come now, you did good. Better than me, that’s for damn sure,” Raihan chuckles, leaning against the doorframe and showing absolutely no intention of leaving him alone. 

“Type advantage. But it still meant nothing.”

“Good work, nonetheless.”

“It wasn’t enough work, evidently,” Bede smiles, a little bit melancholy, very much sarcastically, and Raihan’s grin drops for a second. 

“Don’t beat yourself up about it. The pressure’s good, for sure, keeps you wanting to get better, but too much of it and you’ll go crazy. Trust me, I had your title for a decade,” Raihan sighs.

“So you’re… what, feeling free now?”

“Well, yeah. But I gotta say, I’m gonna miss battling the guy in an arena like this. Going down to Postwick to challenge him just isn’t the same.” 

Raihan’s quiet for a while, but he remains there, only getting more comfortable, and they hold the silence for about a minute. Bede thinks there’s this mutual understanding between them, though they’re ultimately, fundamentally different personalities. 

“The Champion seemed off,” Raihan starts. He’s quiet again, watching Bede for a long time, trying to read him from that. “Sadder.”

“...I see.”

“I’d go check on him, but y’know,” Raihan shrugs. The unsaid ‘but you should’ hangs there between them, and after a few more seconds of painfully awkward silence, Raihan must infer that he’s not getting another word out of Bede, so he leaves with a wave over his shoulder. 

Shit, Raihan’s right, isn’t he? Despite all that posturing, the man was actually trying to throw him some honest advice. 

He remembers Victor’s waning smile through the fight. The thrill of battling slowly replaced by something melancholy. He’d been excited to duel Bede, and he’d made an ass of himself by focusing too much on “playing the role” and trying to beat his team into the ground. They’re rivals, sure, but he doesn’t hate the champion, for crying out loud. And now Victor must think there’s something wrong, that there’s some kind of conflict between them. 

But Bede’s not going to apologise. It’s weird, it’s going to be awkward.

\--

He knows he’s really messed up when he heads back to the hotel and finds his phone with a single message from Victor. Not a barrage of texts joking about the battle. Not a single funny comment. All he gets is a curt ‘Thanks for the battle :)’. Which roughly translates into no smiles at all, and, “I lack the emotional energy to joke.”

Shit.

\--

“Where’s the champion.” He deadpans in front of Marnie’s door the next morning.

“What the hell, Bede, it’s 6am and you look like you haven’t slept all night,” She yawns, still wearing her pyjamas, her hair ties loosely hanging from her head. He holds himself back from commenting on her state.

“You’re right, I haven’t. Which room is he in,” Bede continues.

“You’re sayin’ that like it’s a statement and not a question… Room 504? Or 514. It had a ‘4’ in it,” Marnie shrugs. Bede mentally braces himself to wake a stranger and face the terrible conversation that is sure to ensue. 

“Thanks, Marnie. Sorry to wake you,” He says, curtly, as he rushes off down the hallway.

“Yeah, go get em’,” She cheers, though it comes out like a whisper, and the door shuts so quickly it kind of scares Bede. 

\--

The elevator is suffocating. Bede plans his apology. This feels like his first ever apology, though he’s sure it’s not. He remembers apologising to Rose on multiple occasions. For what, he can’t exactly remember. He doesn’t care to remember anyway, and as a matter of fact, he regrets ever apologising to that manipulative bastard. But that’s besides the point. How’s he going to start? What’s he apologising for? He needs a plan- oh shit, he’s standing right in front of room 504, and he sure as hell hopes this is Victor’s room. Or it would be better if it wasn’t, then he’d have more time to bloody think. 

‘No point wasting time now’, he thinks, and gives the door a few hard knocks. It’s quiet. So quiet Bede swears he can hear sweat trickle down the side of his face. And there are the telltale sounds of footfalls, of steps growing louder, closer and closer to the door, and the locks undoing, and- oh. Victor’s there, wearing a white shirt and sweatpants, still running a towel through his hair. 

“You’re uh… Awake,” Bede starts, already throwing his entire script out the window. Though it can’t exactly be considered a script when it consisted of approximately one word. 

“Yeah I tend to um, wake up early, grab coffee and just cook for my pokemon,” Victor says. There’s a split second where he looks like he’s forcing himself to smile. And then he drops it, almost immediately, deeming it too much effort to maintain, perhaps. 

“Right, of course. You told me,” Bede continues. He opens his mouth. Shuts it. Repeats that movement. All while Victor is staring him down, a little confused, a little… Afraid? But he’s quiet, encouraging him to proceed. “Okay, I’m just going to get to the point.”

Bede sighs. Musters up all his strength for this next part. You’d think he was out here professing his love, he thinks, and the thought fills him with a new kind of panic that he doesn’t have the time to unpack right now.

“I’m sorry. There, it’s out and in the open. I was an absolute arse yesterday,” Bede spits out quickly, and watches Victor carefully. Victor’s eyes widen. And there’s that damned forced smile again.

“What are you apologising for? You were fin-”

“I’m not going to let you cover for me. I made a mistake. I was stressed over having to act as your rival on screen, and I pushed it a little too far, and it came across as rude and extremely disrespectful. I apologise.” 

Victor stares at him, eyes even wider now, and the hand trying to towel off his wet hair freezes completely. Crap, was that a little too direct? 

“You… Okay. I did feel that something was off with you yesterday, but… Wow, I didn’t expect that to be the reason,” Victor pauses, taking a good long glance at… The floor? And then he meets Bede’s eyes again. “I was worried I’d offended you or something.” 

“How would you have done that?”

Victor flinches. He looks somewhat panicked, and he breaks eye contact in favour of staring at the door frame.

“Well, you know, before the tournament, I- We- Actually, never mind. It's fine. I'm happy to hear you're fine, Bede," The fake smile he had plastered across his face fades, replaced by one of pure, unfiltered joy. Bede feels every muscle in his body relax at the sight. "Thanks for the apology."

"Glad we cleared that up then. I would have deeply regretted jeopardizing our friendship." Bede sighs.

"So you admit it! We're friends!" Victor leans closer, absolutely beaming at this point. Bede wants so badly to contest this, but ultimately, he knows damn well they're friends. Enemies don't show up at each others' doors at six in the morning to apologise over petty mistakes. He relents.

"Yes. We're friends."

"This is amazing, never thought I'd see the day-"

"Don't push it." 

"Yep, I won't."

"Want to have a good-friend-hang-out-session later?" Vincent smiles bashfully. He looks like he's gearing up for rejection. Bede tries his best to look put off. But he can't help himself.

"Yes. I will go with you on a so-called good-friend-hang-out-session," Bede sighs. 

"Nice! Okay, one o'clock. Hotel lobby," Victor grins, and Bede can't help but smile back. It's a welcome return to normalcy.

\--

Raihan you idiot.

07:02

?? Who this and who's Raihan

07:02

I'm BEDE did you not save my contact?

07:04

AH BEDE haha no lol I didn't

why am i an idiot tho

07:04

All that talk about 'Rivals' got me overwhelmed and I was an asshole towards Victor because of it.

You started that conversation and that got me VERY STRESSED.

07:07

HAHAHAHAHAHAHH u got stressed

ok but srsly

u will b fine no stress

treat him normally, let the producers say wtv they want

07:07

OH and also

[IMG_6754.jpg]

[IMG_6755.jpg]

[IMG_6756.jpg]

ytd's pics!!!!!! go post on ur acc if u want n tag me

r u there

07:08

guess not

07:10

  
  
  


\--

The hours tick by. Bede sleeps for four hours after talking to Victor, has enough time to shower before heading down to grab a late breakfast with his team. His watch (now a five dollar one he'd bought from some stall in Wyndon) reads twelve thirty when he's done, and with nothing better to do, he takes to lounging about in the hotel lobby, passing time by scrolling absentmindedly through his phone. He starts by deleting the latest three images in his gallery.

The other hotel goers don't pay him too much mind, respecting his privacy to leave him well enough alone, and he's grateful for it. Just thirty minutes, and he can deal with a whole different beast altogether.

He recognises the quieter than average footsteps of Marnie as she approaches. She's all dressed up now, luggage in hand, ready to head back to Spikemuth.

"Whatcha' doin'?" 

"Waiting. Victor asked me to meet him," He says.

"Ah, I see. So your talk went well then, I'm glad."

They don't have much else to say to each other, and he's fine with that. They aren't exactly talkative people. 

"You like him, don't you?" Marnie blurts out, all of a sudden, and Bede chokes on nothing. 

"Yes, we're friends. I have to like him for us to be considered friends to begin with," Bede deflects, and he gives himself a mental pat on the back. That sounds perfectly in character, and he's not lying! He can't be lying. 

"No, you dimwit, I meant romantically. You have a crush on him. Right?"

"What the hell, of course I don't."

"Huh. If you say so, Bede. I'll head off now. Enjoy the date."

"Farewell, Marnie. And I'll enjoy our not-date very much, thank you."

Damn Marnie and her accusations. What a ridiculous thing to propose, that he's attracted to his half-rival half-friend. He wonders where she got that idea from.

\--

Victor arrives five minutes early, and looks surprised to find him already downstairs, not having moved an inch since Marnie found him. 

"Hey, you're early," Victor smiles. "Though then again, you always are."

"And so are you," Bede looks up from his phone. He has to give it to Marnie, it's not an entirely flawed argument. Victor's attractive, and that's a fact. He can see it now especially- His grown out, white hair is styled nicely, and he's wearing a turtleneck underneath his leather jacket, black jeans and creepers creating a somewhat edgy look. He's well put together, knows how to dress in a way that exudes an aura of confidence that draws Bede in.

He is handsome, Bede thinks. He could examine him for days. He suddenly feels a little underdressed in his gym uniform, though he's at least got a hoodie over his shoulders, similarly fairy themed.

"Where to?" Bede rises to his feet, puts his rotom phone aside, and turns to face Victor, Victor whose eyes are quite pretty to look at, and the way he’s smiling at him is also similarly gorgeous. Marnie makes a compelling case for why anyone would be attracted to the champion, he realises. 

“There’s a cafe near the front gate to Wyndon that I think you’d like, and after that I was thinking of heading to the park to give my team a bit of fresh air. I’d love for my team to play with yours for a bit,” Victor says, hand gesturing for them to step outside. Bede follows. 

They walk, and there’s an occasional passerby who’ll do a double take to look back at them, snapping a quick photo from behind, and there’s a rarer few who’ll stop Victor and ask him for his autograph. Victor never fails to shoot them one of his award winning smiles, asking each for their name as he signs on whatever it is they’ve offered him.

It’s a shame, Bede thinks, that the two of them went out with the intention of spending time together, and yet Victor’s always got to keep an eye out for any fans vying for his attention. He’s not bad at being in the limelight, not by any means, his fanbase growing exponentially by the day. But he wonders if Victor ever misses his privacy. He’s sixteen and all eyes are on him. Though he supposes he’s not that far off, with every aspiring trainer in the region all searching him up on the net and discussing strategies for when they take him on in Ballonlea. But this- This is much more than he ever has to deal with on the regular.

But as another couple stops them on their walk, pulls out a notepad and pen for Victor to sign, and Victor continues to appease them by engaging them in a quick conversation, Bede can’t help but wonder how long it’ll take before the champion tires of this.

A five minute walk turns into a fifteen minute long one instead, and by the end of it Bede is much hungrier than before. They reach the cafe like this, and it’s fortunately not too crowded, ample seats for them to space themselves from other patrons. The waiters offer Victor a discount for being champion, and he bashfully attempts to stave off these offers, though to no avail.

Once the waiters leave with their order, Victor seems to melt back into his seat, all the energy leaving him at once.

“ _ Shit,  _ I am exhausted. I know we didn’t do much walking, but-”

“The attention, yes? It’s suffocating?” Bede asks.

“It’s not that… It’s just- This was about to be about us hanging out, chatting,” Victor groans.

“I’m not upset. I’m not… Jealous or anything. I get it. You’re the champion. That means you have responsibilities. You can’t escape the public eye.”

Bede can see the moment something snaps in Victor, when he goes from tired, back to his teasing self. “You can be jealous if you want.”

“Pardon?”

“If you’re afraid of being jealous, then don’t be. By all means, I’d love to see jealous Bede, fighting the masses for quality time with me.” Victor’s smirking, the bravado all for show. It’s all said in jest.

“Victor.”

“Bede.”

“I will leave this establishment and return to Ballonlea right now if you don’t-”

“Okay, I’ll stop.”

Victor is full of energy yet again, it seems, once more confident and testing Bede’s patience (not really, Bede’s fine with it, at the end of the day) as he normally does. Bede wonders how they got to this. From hating Victor’s guts to hanging out with him in Wyndon on a Saturday afternoon.

\--

They finish their meal quickly, and the walk to the park goes a little less interrupted than their prior walk from the hotel to the cafe. A few trainers are here with their teams, some lazing about in the grass, others battling.

A few bold trainers even approach Victor, asking for an opportunity to take him on in battle. Victor laughs it off, turns them down as kindly as he can, and jokes that they’ll have to make it through the gym challenge for a proper battle against him. No one takes it poorly, though a few of them let out a couple of ‘awww’s and groans.

Bede wastes no time letting his team out, and Victor does not long after, once he wraps up a conversation with somebody who’d approached him.

“Hey, Hatterene,” Victor bows to her, and she sings gleefully in response. Bede’s not failed to notice how much his pokemon seem to like Victor. He wonders if their teams are stuck in the same balance as they are- Not quite rivals, not quite  _ friends.  _ But as he notices Victor’s Grimmsnarl running off with his Rapidash, and Skuntank curling up to nap against Sylveon with Mawile nestled in its tail, his heart can’t help but melt. 

“This is nice,” Victor says, immediately collapsing to sit cross-legged in the grass. Bede feels like commenting that he should really work out more if a five minute walk’s enough to get him this shacked. He decides not to comment in the end.

“It is.”

“Thanks for agreeing to hang out, Bede. Even if it’s just for an hour or two. Before we have to pack and go back,” Victor looks like he’s about to lean back and fall asleep in the middle of a park.

“Can I ask something?” Bede starts. He can’t help but blurt it out. It’s been nagging at him for a bit, and it’s not in character for him to leave things unsaid.

“Of course.”

“You could’ve invited Marnie. Or Hop. Or damn, even Raihan or  _ Piers  _ for that matter. Why’d you get me to follow you?” It sounds a little stupid, leaving his tongue, but he asks it anyway. Is he hoping for approval? For confirmation? For what?

Victor’s quiet, just staring up at him. He looks deep in thought. Bede wonders if he should have shut up, at that moment. And then Victor pushes himself up off the grass, so fast it shocks him, and plants his hands firmly on Bede’s shoulders.

“They’re all my friends too. And I love their company. But I invited you out today because I wanted to spend time with  _ you.  _ Because I enjoy  _ your  _ company, and spending time with you is different from hanging out with them,” Victor says, his voice steady and sure, and Bede feels like all the air has been knocked out of his lungs. He feels… Proud? There’s a part of him that’s so violently happy that Victor,  _ all powerful Victor _ , thinks he’s different from all the others. His knees feel weak.

Victor's staring at him feels like a bit too much suddenly, and he can't seem to understand why.

Marnie’s comment comes to mind all of a sudden, like he dredged it up for some reason he can’t comprehend. The certainty with which she’d questioned him had stuck out to him. Does he like Victor? As a friend? Of course. So does everybody. He’s admirable, helping save Galar from no shortage of troubles, still trying to be there for everyone through thick and thin. He’s caring. He looks out for them. He looks out for Bede too. 

And as a partner? The capital ‘L’ like that Marnie had thrown out, that he’d been denied? Well, it can’t be  _ that.  _ Sure, Victor's gorgeous. He's kind. He's wonderful to be around, and Bede loves spending time with him. Bede wouldn't trade it for the world, and sometimes- Oh. 

Shit.

"Bede, are you alive?" Victor shakes him a little bit. "Did I break you somehow?" 

Bede needs out. He’s not about to have this epiphany in the middle of a park with no less than a dozen pairs of eyes on them. Not with both their teams out, taking in the spectacle of his most embarrassing realisation.

"Actually, I just remembered, I’ve got a meeting with the trainers back at the gym, and I've still got loads to pack before I head back-" Bede grabs on to Victor’s arms, pries them off his shoulders, sets them down at his sides. 

"I could help you, if you want?" Victor cocks his head to the side. He looks disappointed by the sudden interruption, but not yet offended by it, thankfully.

"No! I mean- No, it's fine," Bede bites his lip. Play it calm. Everything is absolutely fine.

“Oh, then… I’ll walk you back at least,” Victor grins, already getting his pokeballs out to call his team back. This is the  _ bare minimum  _ Bede’s thundering heart can take, and it costs him so much emotional strength to just stand there, recall each of his pokemon back, and  _ lie to Victor in his face. _

“No problem. I’d appreciate the company,” It comes out quiet, sounds a bit like he’s exhausted (he is) and he’s grateful that Victor doesn’t pry any further. 

Victor nudges him on the shoulder. “Let’s head back.”

And Bede wants to scream.

\--

The walk back to the hotel is so excruciatingly silent, but Victor doesn’t seem to mind. He hums to himself, sometimes looks over to Bede to check on him, but he lets the silence between them go uninterrupted as they walk. He’s grateful for it. But it’s also a five minute walk of endless torture for Bede. Part of him screams at himself, pleading him to come up with some kind of conversation they can hold for the remainder of the walk, anything to make sure Victor doesn’t think something’s up, anything to let him enjoy this time a little bit better. 

The other part of him is adamant that if he says something, Victor will immediately catch on, and that’s it, there goes his heart, there goes his dignity and his reputation. And he’s not about to let that happen, so he zips his mouth shut and holds himself back as best as he can.

Victor steps off the elevator first, once they’ve returned to the hotel. He leaves Bede’s side, rests a hand on his back for a little longer than Bede can bear, and gives him a light pat.

“This was fun, I wouldn’t mind doing this again next time you’re free,” Victor chirps, holding an elevator door open, anticipating some reply from him.

Absolutely, Bede would love to do this again as well, even though it might cost him his life, time spent with Victor is time certainly not wasted. That’s what he wants to say. Instead, what comes out is:

“I’ll be quite busy in the coming weeks. I’ll let you know,” and to make matters worse, he says it completely deadpan. As if he couldn’t sound any more indifferent. Victor thankfully doesn’t appear too bothered by the sudden change in tone, and settles for flashing him one last grin, and letting the doors shut behind him. Bede burns the image of Victor’s retreating figure down the hall into his mind. And he collapses into the corner of the elevator, though unlike last time, he is ashamed to admit he’s finally figured out the cause of this distress.

\--

The other gym leaders trickle home, each departing for their respective towns one after the other. Bede leaves first, desperate for some sense of normalcy, needing some kind of clarity after the emotional roller coaster he’s just been on. Victor isn’t able to see him off; Post-tournament interviews, photoshoots and various other media appearances plague his schedule, and he gets a few texts just before his taxi home, a few well wishes and a promise to meet again soon. He replies to them as he would, and tries his best not to think any more of it.

The gym challenge isn’t due to start soon, but there’s still work to be done in Ballonlea. Opal’s old challenge isn’t exactly something he feels suits him. He won’t deny he’s got an eye for the theatrical, but Opal’s just a step above, somehow. He needs to rework it, create something that  _ he  _ can claim as his own. Opal takes no offense to this, instead encouraging him to push through and think out of the box. With all these… Extra feelings clouding his thought, he finds it quite difficult to do any form of thinking, quite frankly, be it in or out of the metaphorical box.

Other than that, he’s working alongside the gym trainers, helping them reach a level he finds befitting of a trainer under his mentorship. His work keeps him busy, and though he sometimes craves a little free time to kick back and distract himself momentarily, he knows his thoughts will only drift back to  _ the champion,  _ and he’s not sure if that’ll worsen or help with his stress. So he resigns to keeping his schedule as packed as possible.

And it is two weeks into this cycle that Bede’s routine is thrown for a loop once more, as a training session is interrupted by one of the trainers barging in, surprise painted onto her features.

“Th-The champion! The champion’s here to see you!” 

“I’m sorry? Vincent is here?” Bede is certain he must look completely dumbfounded, like a deer in the headlights, and even his Sylveon seems stunned by the sudden news.

“Yes, he just arrived on a Corviknight taxi. He brought with him Spikemuth’s gym leader, and another of their friends,” She pants, trying to catch her breath. He has no doubt Victor’s brought Hop, and something about that makes him… Afraid. They’re by no means on bad terms, he’s apologised for his god awful manners, and done his best to make amends. Hop’s since forgiven him, and they’ve chatted here and there. But he’s never quite been able to rid himself of the guilt for words he should have left unsaid. Or perhaps should never have thought of to begin with. 

But Hop’s… Hop’s a better person. He is not the kind of person to hold a grudge, and that makes Bede feel worse. He brought hurt to this bright ray of sunshine, and he’s not sure if it’s a wound that’ll ever fully heal. However, he does not have the luxury of time, staring at his gym trainer, jaw semi-dropped, and every second wasted is a second Victor is left suspecting.

“Oh, then um… Tell him to wait at the lobby. I’ll be there in five minutes,” Bede stammers, and his trainer is kind enough not to call him out for the sudden shakiness in his voice. She nods and rushes back out the door. 

Sylveon gives him a reassuring mewl.

“Don’t look at me like that, I don’t like what you’re implying.”

\--

Five minutes very easily turns into ten, as Bede spends far too long in the restroom, trying to get his hair to look right, and trying to make sure every part of his outfit looks perfect.

\--

Bede runs into Marnie just outside the restroom, actually. His shocked face must give something away, because all Marnie does is give him a long, dramatic sigh, as she comes to a stop before him.

“Y’missed a spot,” She says, nudging her chin towards a tuft of hair sticking out awkwardly on his right. He bites back a curse, frantically moves to correct it, all while Marnie continues to watch him curiously. “Finally decided to admit it to yourself?”

Bede doesn’t think it’s very wise to deny anything, especially considering how Marnie somehow saw through everything before he could. “The feelings are new. I had nothing to admit, only a sudden realisation.”

“Please. I can see you two fawning over each other from a mile away, any day,” Marnie groans, moving past him and into the women’s restroom. He continues to stare at the spot she left. 

“Wait,  _ both of us _ ?” 

"Yes, both of you bumbling idiots," She doesn't bother looking back at him as he trails behind her pathetically, searching for any sign of what she'd said being true. He allows himself to hope, just this once at least. 

\--

Victor is obnoxious, he thinks, as he also hopes and prays his complete and utter embarrassment doesn't show with Victor launching himself at Bede. He lets himself rest his chin on Victor's shoulder for a second, definitely doesn't let his eyes flutter shut for the shortest moment, before he makes eye contact with Hop, who's giving him a beaming smile (with mocking undertones) from the other side of the room with Marnie.

"What do you think you're looking at?" He half-growls half-whispers in their general direction, before all of his bite suddenly gets swallowed up as he realises  _ he's not exactly on good enough terms with Hop for friendly aggression, is he?  _ So he gulps and settles for patting Victor on the back as he finds himself the (un)fortunate recipient of a hug that's gone on for perhaps twenty seconds too long.

"Hey, Bede! How's the gym leader business?" Hop bounds over once Victor's finally freed him, giving him a hard pat on the shoulder. Hop doesn't seem to be aware of his own strength, but Bede refuses to let the pain show.

"Rather dull in between gym challenge seasons, but it's been rewarding. I'm enjoying it so far," Bede says through gritted teeth. 

"Glad to hear it! The three of us just decided to stop by from Postwick, we'll be staying in the pokemon centre for the night, then we're off to Spikemuth to catch Piers' next show!" Hop's joy is absolutely infectious, Bede finds, as he can't help but smile along.

He feels a familiar warmth sidle up to his left arm, and it's oddly calming to find Victor at his side, leaning his entire weight into him, tangling his arms together with Bede's left, absent mindedly tugging at his sleeve. Victor's always been touchy, though, he reminds himself.

"So the three of you've got tickets already?"

"Yep. Three tickets ready to go," Victor starts, rummaging through his pockets to pull them out. He never finds them. He pulls out a receipt, shoves it back in his pocket, and promptly gives up. “We have three.”

“Oh, enjoy then.”

“But Marnie doesn’t need one-”

Hop cuts in. “Cause she’s performing! She’s finally going to let us see her playing guitar, and Piers asked her to stand in for his usual lead guitarist!”

“It’s just a one time thing, don’t expect it to be the norm,” Marnie sighs, as Hop and Victor continue to hype her up, much to her chagrin.

“I see.” To be perfectly honest, Bede isn’t sure how he’s supposed to react to that, especially when Hop and Victor and throwing him very knowing looks, as if he’s supposed to be catching on to something he can’t quite pinpoint.

Everyone’s quiet for about ten seconds. Victor and Hop trade confused looks.

“So you know, we were hoping to invite you to come with us!” Victor shakes Bede’s arm excitedly. Bede feels his entire body seize up.  _ No, it’s not a date, you dimwit, Hop’s there too.  _ He’s never been invited to a concert of any kind before. He’s never even  _ seen  _ one, he’s not sure how these things are supposed to go.

“That’s alright! Just stick with Hop and I, we’ll sure you’ll enjoy yourself,” Victor nods reassuringly. And it works. He can ignore one day’s worth of duties if it means making Victor happy. And oh shit, had he said that out loud?

“Alright. Just let me know what time I need to be up tomorrow.”

\--

Bede does not need to wake up early. He’s been informed that the concert is to be held at night, rather late actually, so he has the day to himself. He wraps up his duties quickly, getting them out of the way by 5pm, and opts to spend the remainder of his time walking around Ballonlea. He notes that the trio have made themselves sparse. Wherever they are, he’s certain they’re causing some form of chaos, and he’s fortunate that they’ve spared him the experience of witnessing said chaos. 

As night rolls around, the sun having set a few hours ago, he changes out of his uniform, throws on a more comfortable set of clothes, bundles himself up in the jacket he’d worn on gym challenges, and finds a comfortable balcony up on one of the upper floors of the gym. They’ll call on him when it’s time to leave, and he’s certain they’ll make enough noise that he’ll know it’s time.

It’s peaceful here, watching the towering fungi pulse gently with light. The forest here feels alive, more so than any other he’s seen. He remembers not being able to travel here until after he’d been disqualified from the gym challenge. He’d been restless, eager to prove himself, confused by the elderly woman and her plans for him, desperate to get back in the limelight, and most of all, driven purely by rage- He’d wanted nothing more than to crush Victor. He snickers. And here he is, pining after Victor like a lost puppy.

“Something funny?” Bede nearly launches himself off the balcony as he jumps from his seat on the ground. He whirls his head around, and of course, as the universe has a funny way of playing tricks on him, he finds himself face to face with Victor himself.

“How’d you know I was here?”

“Hop and Marnie went off to gather up their teams. Mine are already good to go, so I thought I’d find you,” Victor shrugs. “Wasn’t hard, I just had to find the quietest places in this building.”

“Ah, that’s… Fair. Then it’s time for us to leave?”

“Not just yet. We’ve got maybe another…” Victor checks his watch. “Fifteen minutes, more or less?”

“Alright,” Bede is ashamed by how little he has to say now that the two of them are finally,  _ finally  _ alone. He’s eternally grateful that Victor always takes all this in stride, never once seems to be put off by Bede’s inherent awkwardness, and knows how to lead in instances like this.

“I’ll join you then, no worries, I won’t interrupt your thoughts,” Victor immediately sinks to the ground, stretches his legs out and leans back against the glowing exterior of the gym.

“It’s fine. I wasn’t thinking of much. I was just recalling stuff from the past. Like when Opal first brought me here.”

“Oh yeah, I remember that. Sorry I didn’t try and save you or anything. I was kinda just… Confused by everything she was saying,” Victor laughs. Bede vividly remembers Victor being too stunned to even get a word in, and he remembers the panicked expression he must have thrown Victor’s way as Opal started dragging him off to a taxi. “Speaking of the past, it’s been a while since-”

Bede feels a hand tugging absent-mindledly at the hem of his coat. And ah, Victor’s right. He hasn’t worn  _ this  _ coat- Rose’s much too oversized coat, since he started training under Opal. He must’ve put in on without thinking, he normally wouldn’t have chosen it.

“You’re right. I’ll get a new one before we leave,” Bede sighs.

“Oh no, I wasn’t trying to imply you should change it, I was just wondering-”

“I know. But it’s… Rose got it for me, did you know that?” Victor’s silent. “It was one size too big. Cause he’d forgotten. But that didn’t matter. It was a gift from the  _ chairman.  _ So I thought- I thought he really cared, you know?”

He’d been eleven, hardly a year out of the orphanage, wearing hand-me-downs from kids who’d left the orphanage much, much longer before he had. 

“He’d gotten it customised to have his little logo on the back. I thought it’d mean something.”

“You were younger.”

“It was a little over a year ago, Victor,” Bede snaps. He turns to face Victor. He sees the moment Victor’s heart sinks, his eyes widening as he pulls his hand away. Shit, he’s gone and done it again. “But that’s not the point. I guess I just forgot about this.” 

Victor’s quiet.

“I’ll throw it out later.”

There was a time that nothing else other than pleasing Rose had mattered. He’d been desperate for something,  _ anything,  _ from the chairman. Hell, he’d even thought Rose wanted to adopt him. But no, that had never been it. Even till now, he’s not sure. And he’s not entirely certain that a visit to where Rose’s been locked up will grant him any peace of mind. 

Rose used him. That’s all he’s ever been to him, a tool. And this jacket had been a sign of ownership. It’s Rose, shadowing him. He shrugs it off, letting it fall to the ground.

“It’s cold out, you’ll need to keep warm somehow,” Victor says slowly, carefully, after a few minutes have passed.

“So you’re suggesting I wear it anyway?”

“No, please  _ do  _ throw it out. We’ll go get you something better in Spikemuth. It’ll be fun,” Victor offers. The offer doesn’t sound too bad, now that Bede thinks about it. He hasn’t had an opportunity to spice up his wardrobe in a while.

“So, I’ll just settle for wearing it one last night,” Bede sighs. It’ll be fine. Just one final goodbye to the god awful person he’d been just a while back. And he feels Victor nudge him hard. He takes a glance downward. 

Victor’s got his varsity jacket bunched up in his hand, and he’s pressing it into his side.

“You can wear this, if you’d like. It’s warmer than it looks.”

What- This is- Oh.

Bede quietly wonders what kind of drama he’s been suddenly cast in. He looks at it for far too long, having a little bit of a mental block as he decides between- Actually, what is there to decide? He takes it, maybe grips it a little too hard such that it creases and Victor gives a little wince, and he throws it over his shoulders. It’s comfortable, still warm.

“Thank you, Victor,” He smiles. He actually smiles, and he looks back at Victor, now wearing a turtleneck, his hat partially obscuring his features. Victor smiles back.

Bede thinks it’s here that he figures everything out. Here, as he sits with his rival, their shoulders pressed together and they gaze out at the forest beyond, and as he nestles further into said rival’s jacket. His life was changed for the better back in Hammerlocke, no, even before that, with every time he’d run into Victor. 

They’re rivals, he won’t deny that. He lives for a good pokemon battle, and any one had with Victor is sure to get his heart pumping. But oh, what he’d do to have more nights like this. Victor is beautiful, so utterly paralysing, and Bede can’t help but be pulled into his orbit every time they’re together. He wants to be Victor’s rival, but more than that, he wants to be at Victor’s side.

He wants to spend years upon years writing god-awful, cliched poetry about Victor, his face, his heart, his whole  _ being,  _ and he wants nothing more than for Victor to turn his way, tell him that’s what he wants to, but Bede is  _ Bede.  _ So of course he won’t. So he settles for this- The silence that works its way back into the conversation, as the minutes tick by.

\--

Black isn’t his colour. But he can’t help but shove his hands further into the pockets, bury his face deeper into the collar, as Victor leads him to the corviknight taxi they’ve rented. 

“You won’t be cold?” Bede asks, as Victor tosses a handful of crumpled receipts into a nearby trash can.

“Nope, I’ve got another jacket, no worries."

Victor kneels, has a little bit of a fight with the contents of his bag, as he struggles to pry his jacket free from a mess of potions, revives, bags of… sand? And eventually manages to pull on a black leather jacket.

"Much better!" Victor grins, arms out as if presenting his new outfit to Bede for critique. Bede  _ nearly  _ wishes he’d turned down Victor’s offer to take his jacket for the night, because he’s not sure how much can take, with Victor looking gorgeous simply by swapping out the varsity jacket for something a little sharper. Bede isn’t sure what to even say, something that wouldn’t give him away would be good, but his mind seems to short circuit, so he settles for a singular, stiff nod as he hears the telltale sound of Hop and Marnie bounding over.

“Hey Bede! Is that-”

“Yeah, I lent it to him for the night,” Victor moves over to sling his arm around Hop. Bede watches them for a bit. Hop seems to be whispering something excitedly into Victor’s ear, and the conversation seems to come to an abrupt end with both of them jabbing each others’ sides with their shoulders. They continue rough housing even as the corviknight taxi driver holds open the door for them, stepping back uneasily as he lets the chaotic duo inside. 

It’s Marnie who moves next to him a second later. 

“Nice jacket, Bede.”

“Shut up. I don’t want to hear it.”

\--

The taxi ride is loud. So loud in fact, that Bede wonders if he’s going to go deaf even before the concert starts. He might have let it slide that he’d never heard one of Piers’ songs before, and he agreed to the concert purely on a whim. (A very self indulgent whim.) Victor, who’s apparently a huge fan, which Bede takes a mental note of, gets his rotom phone out to play him a sample of one of his songs. What was supposed to be “a bit of my favourite song” quickly transforms into “the entire album”, and before he knows it, he’s trapped between Hop and Victor yelling lyrics into his ear. Marnie’s quiet, but a quick glance at her rotom phone lets Bede know she’s reviewing one of the songs for later- He notices the twitch of her fingers as she recalls the chords she’ll be playing.

He decides not to bother her for help.

\--

It is a relief to be out of that taxi. He even feels a bit sorry for the poor corviknight having to carry about their weight. Marnie rushed off to meet up with Piers backstage a few minutes ago, leaving him with Hop and Victor, amidst a crowd of Team Yell- no, gym trainers, as well as a few other fans who’ve dressed for the occasion. Bede is now very grateful for the jacket, because he now feels about twenty percent less out of place. 

He sees a pair in the corner of his eye, and there’s something familiar about them. Two men, pink spiked hair, dressed much like every other trainer under Piers’ leadership, but he feels like these two in particular, he’s seen somewhere before. Ah, he remembers now- They were outside Stow-on-side back when he was on his gym challenge, Copperajah at his side, scaring off trainers who were there to see Allister. 

He distinctly remembers chasing them off, wiping their teams out with Copperajah’s aid alone, and he also very vividly remembers not holding back his tongue. 

The two seem to notice him just then, and there’s an excruciatingly awkward moment where they just stare each other down. But Bede remembers, he’s not here to start fights. He’s not that kind of person anymore.  _ Carry yourself with grace,  _ he repeats to himself in his head,  _ like Opal always told you.  _

He's all too aware of Victor and Hop standing behind him, their conversation dying down a little, as if they’ve noticed something’s up. The two trainers approach. Bede finds his hand straying down towards his hip, where his pokeballs have been fastened to. He gulps.

“Hey uh… Bede, right?” One starts, equally as uncertain as he is.

“That’s me,” Bede nods, doing his utmost to keep a level head.

“So, I don’t know if you remember us, but we uh- We were the two you defeated and then threatened back outside Allister’s gym,” He gestures meekly to his friend. 

“Oh,” Is all Bede’s brain supplies him with, and apparently now he’s going to be feigning forgetfulness. “I’m sorr-”

“No, we’re the ones who should apologise,” The other cuts him off. “We were just doing what we thought was best for lil’ Marnie, but we realise how many trainers whose challenges we’ve ruined by doin’ all that. So we’re sorry. And also, thank you, for makin’ sure we wouldn’t hurt anyone else.”

This is new. Bede certainly isn’t familiar with receiving an apology. In fact, he thought he’d be the one stuck making apologies for the rest of his life, with his track record. Perhaps it isn’t wise to mention he mostly fought them just so he could desecrate a historical monument. Certainly not wise at all.

“Oh, I uh- Well,” Bede stammers. The hell is he supposed to say here? This should not be as stressful as it is. 

He feels a comforting weight on his shoulder. 

“Apology accepted. No hard feelings, I should’ve gone a little easier on the two of you as well,” Bede says softly. He’s worried the two don’t hear him, with how loudly the speakers are blasting Piers’ music, but it’s a huge relief when the two smile, wave, and head off deeper into the crowd.

“You alright, Bede?” He turns to find Victor with his hand on his shoulder. Trust Victor to know when something’s upsetting him. He plants his hands on Victor’s wrist, lifts his hand off his shoulder gently, and just… Holds it. For a few seconds, and they’re quiet.

“Just don’t like being reminded of the shit I did in the past,” Bede bites out, and Victor seems to chuckle softly.

“Well, I-”

“Bede! Victor! Gates are opening!” Hop yells from the other side of the street, as the crowd suddenly starts to surge forward, everyone eager to get front row positions. 

“Come on!” All continuation of their conversation is forgotten, as Bede finds himself dragged through the gates, and into a performance he’s certain is going to exhaust him.

\--

Bede wouldn’t consider himself a music aficionado by any means. He wouldn’t even call himself a  _ fan  _ of any particular genre of music. He hadn’t really listened to any kind of music as a kid. After he’d met Rose, the man had gotten him to listen to some classical music, to get him to be more “cultured”. He’s not sure it worked, especially considering he can’t remember a single note from any of those songs. 

It’s not that he hates music. He just doesn’t know what kind he’d enjoy. And Piers is absolutely, full of talent. He’s not sure what constitutes a good singing voice, but he’s sure Piers has got it. Every line he belts out is full of emotion- Anger, sadness, Bede feels it. Marnie’s doing a brilliant job as well, and Bede can’t help but smile as he watches her up there on stage, focused on getting a complicated part of the riff right.

She was uneasy at first, but upon hearing Hop and Victor’s cheering, she seemed to have lightened up. Now, she’s beaming. 

It’s good music. Bede thinks he might look it up when he gets back to Ballonlea, though he’s not entirely sold on it just yet.

With how much the crowd’s been jumping about, causing a ruckus, Bede’s ashamed to admit he’s lost track of Hop and Victor. He feels like his feet have been bolted to the ground, and it’s awkward, being the only stationary person amidst a field of chaos, and he’s relieved to catch a glimpse of Hop’s purple hair just a bit ahead, by the banister just in front of Piers. 

He starts carefully pushing his way to the front of the crowd, grimacing as he presses against a few sweaty backs, and he finally gets a breath of fresh air, as a small section of the crowd seems to have been left empty, just barely enough space for him to stand alone, and finally, he’ll get a clear view of the stage. Now if he could just find- There they are. 

Victor and Hop have their hands planted on the railing keeping the crowd back, and they’re nodding along with the song as if in a trance, both of them seemingly laughing their heads off while singing along, jumping in time with the rhythm.

Bede starts to shove further into the crowd to make it to them. He should call out to them, but his voice would probably get drowned out by all the yelling. He’s almost there now.

Victor and Hop look like they’re in their own world, having the time of their lives. Bede smiles. Victor throws his head back as he’s overwhelmed by a fit of laughter, and dips his head into the crook of Hop’s neck. Bede digs his heel into the ground. Hop throws an arm around Victor’s shoulder, and turns such that they’re foreheads are pressed together, and they start laughing even harder. 

Bede turns to leave. 

There’s a split second, before Bede’s back faces them, that he thinks Victor sees him, makes eye contact with him through the crowd, and there’s an expression there he can’t quite read. It’s too late for that anyway. He’s gone before Victor can react.

\--

**Marnie**

_ Where are you? Victor and Hop are with me, they said they lost you. _

23:10

_ Are you alright? _

23:17

\--

**Hop**

_ Hey Bede, it’s Hop! Victor and I are by the drinks stand! _

23:05

\--

**Victor**

_ Bede? _

23:03

_ Did you leave? Is everything fine? _

23:04

_ 3 missed calls _

23:10

_ Are you safe? _

23:20

\--

**Marnie**

_ It’s been two hours. You’re really scaring us. At least reply to let us know you haven’t been kidnapped or anything. _

01:30

**You**

_ I’m home. _

01:36

\--

The gym challenge is due to start again in three weeks. Bede’s days are filled with even more training, and even more work as he tries to get his gym in order. Opal’s more senior trainers are a blessing, he finds, as they guide him along the path to creating his own unique set of rules for the incoming challengers. 

He’s busy, he wakes early and sleeps a few hours before sunrise. But more than anything, it’s a  _ distraction.  _ He remembers rushing out of Spikemuth, climbing aboard a corviknight taxi, keeping his fists clenched, and collapsing into his bed. He remembers lying there for a few hours, unable to sleep. 

He remembers what he was thinking about. Because it’s  _ still  _ what he’s thinking about, every time he gives himself a chance to relax. He’s thinking it right now, as one of the gym trainers had caught him in a trance, and if he hadn’t been propping himself up against a wall, he’s certain he would have collapsed. 

She ushers him to one of the break rooms, gets him a glass of warm water, and tells him to rest on the sofa. He opens his mouth to resist, but as she shoots him a stern look, he clamps it back shut, and turns to take a sip from the glass.

How weird it must be, he thinks, to have a boss twenty years your junior, who can’t even take care of himself.

But now that he’s been left alone with his thoughts, he’s reluctant to admit how often these ugly thoughts keep resurfacing.

He should’ve seen it sooner- Hop and Victor knew each other their whole lives, they practically grew up together. They’re closer than Bede and Victor will ever be. While Bede was busy trying to crush both of them, they had each other. How easy it would be for that to blossom into something more, something so deep that Bede hadn’t even been able to catch it until he’d seen it himself.

He doesn’t hate Hop. How could he? He’s perfect for Victor. He’s perfect. They’d looked so happy. If anything, Bede’s relieved it’s Hop. Victor needs someone cheerful. He needs Hop. He just can’t help but wish he needed  _ him  _ too.

Bede certainly doesn’t cry, definitely doesn’t start sniffling as he gulps down the rest of the water, then moves to pour himself another cup, then another, and he doesn’t notice until the water’s all gone.

\--

He’s not jealous. Okay, he is a little bit. But he doesn’t have the right to be jealous, not after everything he’s put them through. He’s done so much wrong, it’s a miracle they considered him as their friend-  _ Considered  _ him as their friend. He’ll be fine. He just needs a bit of time.

To think he’d actually thought he and Victor could’ve hit it off. There’s nothing to be jealous of, really, especially since nothing would’ve happened between them anyway. Victor’s just too nice for his own good.

His phone buzzes.

**Marnie**

_ I’m downstairs. I need to talk to you. _

12:05

\--

Bede finds Marnie in one of the waiting rooms in the gym. He’s been informed she barged in, past the gym trainers, and demanded to speak to him. Seems about right for her.

“It’s been a while,” He says, and she doesn’t reply. Her arms are crossed, and she seems to be carrying herself with an air of elegance as usual, though Bede definitely feels like she’s a second away from sending her whole team after him.

She huffs. “Lunch. Your treat. Let’s talk.”

\--

At least it’s Marnie, he thinks, as he sits opposite her in one of the cafes in Ballonlea, just by the gym. He doesn’t know how he’d handle Hop’s wrath. Actually, he doesn’t know if he could  _ survive  _ it. He’s never even seen it, he just knows he doesn’t want to.

“You’re not an idiot, you know why I’m here.”

“Victor’s upset, I know,” Bede stammers. He’d ruined a night out by leaving abruptly and leaving everyone on read. Victor hasn’t messaged him since. It’s been two weeks. They used to talk every day. Victor’s even been quiet on social media. People on forums had started making weird conspiracy theory posts explaining the champion’s absence.

Marnie continues to glare daggers into his skull. She wants an explanation, that much he knows. But he doesn’t know how to explain any of it to her. He just… His heart had sank that night, and he’d been too ashamed to do anything about it, so he’d turned tail and ran without thinking.

“Is he alright?” He asks meekly. “I haven’t spoken to him.”

She takes a sip of her juice. “No. He’s been sulking every day. I wonder why.” Bede winces. “But apart from that, he left Galar last week.”

Bede feels his body go numb.

“He-  _ What _ ?”

“He got some invite in Postwick, told me he was leaving Galar for a bit to do some training.”

“He can’t just  _ leave,  _ he’s the champion! Where’d he go? Alola? Sinnoh?”

“Relax, I’m sure it’s not that far. But I’m not sure either.” She groans.

“For how long?”

“Look, Bede, I’m not sure. The invite failed to mention. Could be a week. Could be months. I don’t know. Maybe you should text him.”

“I can’t just do that, I-”

“You know, you’ve changed, Bede,” She gulps down the rest of her drink. “But you’re still an idiot. I hope you feel better soon.”

She leaves him there, her plate empty, his still half full, and he watches her back retreats further and further away. He doesn’t understand her at all. But he’s left with an uneasy feeling in his stomach.

\--

Bede doesn’t text Victor. But he does get a text, a day after he meets up with Marnie. It’s a picture of a storefront, and being modeled by the mannequins out front are knee-length coats of varying colours. The caption reads ‘Reminded me of you.’ And how cruel it is for Victor to do this to him, to remind him of the shopping trip they  _ never ended up having.  _

Bede thinks of Victor constantly. He sees him in everything. He sees Victor in his morning coffee even, and he wonders how many spoons of sugar Victor would like in his coffee. Everything is littered with memories of him. And Victor must be blind, to only see him in coats that are merely a poor mimicry of what he’d once worn.

Victor’s posting on social media again. He’s a terrible photographer, and the latest photos are of his team- They’re training somewhere quiet, atop a cliff of some kind.

The latest update is on his story, and because Bede finds himself with barely anyone to talk to on his off hours, he finds himself actually swiping through his friends’ stories now and then, and he has the misfortune of coming across one of Victor’s one night.

It’s him and Hop, arms around each others’ shoulders, standing by the waterfall in Wyndon. Scribbled underneath their beaming smiles, in Victor’s telltale messy handwriting, are the words ‘Proud of you’ with similarly messily drawn hearts around them.

Of course they’re dating. How long has it been? Since before the concert? Or perhaps even after? He’s too late, he’s always been too late, and it feels like someone’s twisting the knife stuck in him a few weeks back. He types “Congrats to both of” and stops himself, deletes it, types it once more, then abandons it altogether. He doesn’t have that kind of strength in him just yet.

\--

Victor calls him one night, while he’s fresh out of the shower after a day of gruelling training. He sees Victor’s name flash across the screen and he freezes dead in his tracks. He lets his finger hover over the icon to let the call go through, and he thinks if he’d waited a second longer, he would’ve missed it.

“Hey, is this Bede?” Victor asks. It’s like a punch in the gut, hearing Victor’s voice again.

He feels like there’s something lodged in his throat, he can’t get the words out, but after a deep sigh, “Yeah.”

“It’s been a while.”

“It has.”

“How’s everything at the gym?”

“Busy. But it’s going well.”

“Oh, good. I’m uh… Happy to hear that.”

The silence stretches on for far longer than Victor would normally allow.

“I’ll see you around then,” Victor finally relents, as he realises Bede’s content to leave the rest of the call silent. 

“Bye.”

\--

Gym work takes him to Hulbury. Nessa’s got some kind of sponsorship deal with a local clothing brand, and she thinks he’d make a good model, alongside Milo and Kabu. He’s not entirely sure what kind of clothes would put him on the same level as  _ Milo and Kabu  _ of all people, but as a new gym leader who’s still trying to connect to the others, he feels somewhat obliged to come along.

He’s thankful that he’s packed somewhat lightly, by his standards at least, as he pulls his luggage along the cobblestone streets. At his side is Sylveon, fresh out of the pokemon centre after an unfortunate run in with a group of wild Nincada that’d chosen to attack their corviknight taxi out of the blue.

“Almost at the hotel, then I’ll see if I have any treats for you,” he whispers softly to Sylveon, who responds with an excited purr. 

The ocean breeze is calming, and he finds his eyelids fluttering shut on more than one occasion. It’s at this moment that Sylveon stops dead in its tracks, raising its head as if in some state of alarm. The gesture catches Bede off guard, and he swerves back abruptly to watch his pokemon.

“Someone you recognise?” Bede asks, and he hopes and prays it’s not  _ Victor  _ of all people. He’s not prepared for this conversation.

Sylveon starts to sniff the air, seems to deliberate for a moment, and for some god forsaken reason, it decides to sprint full speed in the direction of whatever’s caught its attention.

“Sylv- Hey! Come back!” Bede yells, as he starts to run, then realises that his luggage is still perhaps, a bit too heavy for this. He curses under his breath and tugs at a pokeball at his side,  _ any  _ Pokeball. He lets out whoever he happened to pick, which turns out to be Gardevoir. “Watch the luggage for me!”

He lets the luggage collapse to the ground with a loud thud, leaving a puzzled Gardevoir calling out for him as she struggles to tilt it back upright. Sylveon’s turning a street corner ahead, and he forces his legs to move faster, before he somehow manages to lose Sylveon to some random chase she’s decided to take him on.

“Sylveon! Wait!” He calls out, drawing some curious looks from onlookers, and thankfully none of them decide to whip out their phones to document one of their nation’s beloved gym leaders out of breath from a short sprint through the city, unable to wrangle one of his own team.

He’s relieved to hear Sylveon’s steps come to a halt, and he hears what sounds like a delighted squeal from her, and some other pokemon she’s found. Whoever it is, Bede’s going to have to interrupt this meeting asap; They’ve got a meeting in a few hours, and they need to be checked in.

He rounds the bend, and- It’s Hop. He finds Sylveon at his feet, nuzzling up against his Corviknight.

“Bede,” Hop breathes out, a bit stunned, but he sees the corners of his lips turn upwards as he moves over to wrap his arms around him, pulling him into an excruciatingly tight hug. “Where have you been? I missed you, buddy!”

It’s a relief to hear that Hop’s not upset with him for basically ghosting Victor for an entire month. But it is of course, a challenge for Bede to act naturally around Hop. Once Hop finally lets him breathe again, he tries his best to force a smile onto his face.

“Just haven’t had much time for myself recently,” Bede chokes out. It’s not entirely a lie, though he knows damn well his alone time has been spent lying down for hours and staring up at the ceiling whilst mentally berating his life choices.

“Yeah, I guess gym stuff can be tough. Marnie’s been busy lately too,” Hop shrugs. “Victor and I miss you, you should come hang out with us more often!”

Oh lord, that sentence hits him hard. Hop can’t seem to spare his heart some mercy, it seems. But he can’t exactly blame him either, it’s really not Hop’s fault that Victor fell for him. It’s not either of their faults, Bede realises, it’s his own damn fault for getting himself into this mess, and now the two of them are getting suspicious, and he’s an absolute moron.

“I’m sorry, I just haven’t had the time,” Bede turns his gaze downwards, and he scratches at the back of his neck awkwardly. Not a total lie. 

“Well, it’s alright, neither does Victor,” He sighs. “He’s got media appearances lined up like mad, and he’s been drilling himself when it comes to training up his team for the next gym challenge. Never seen him this stressed out before.”

It seems like he and Victor are in the same boat then. The challenge is getting to them, and they’ve taken to hitting themselves with the most intense training they can conjure up. 

“Oh. I’m sorry to hear that, it must be hard on both of you with the gym challenge getting in the way,” He says. He supposes it’ll help him out in the long run if he does his best to be supportive towards the two. Besides, it wouldn’t be fair to either of them if he continued to avoid them out of what, spite? Jealousy?

“Well, technically, it’s really just hard on Victor. I’m just focusing on my studies right now, and they’re going alright” Hop shrugs. “Is that what you meant?”

“No, I meant- you know, because of the two of you being together.”

“Victor lives in Wyndon these days for training, and I’ve been travelling all across Galar to get my research thesis done, so we haven’t really been neighbours, though we do try to keep-”

“I’m talking about your relationship! The two of you are- dating, or whatever, correct?”

Hop’s entire body seems to seize up. Bede holds his tongue. And Hop bursts into laughter, gripping his stomach and damn near doubling over, leaving Bede over there stunned speechless and looking more and more like an idiot every second. Is there a joke he isn’t getting? Should he start laughing and pretend like he’s in on it? No, that would probably make him look more stupid than he already is, and hey, speaking of which, what’s got Hop all amused?

“What’s so funny?”

“You think- You think we’re in a relationship!” Hop manages to choke out in between his mess of laughing and sobbing.

“Am I wrong? The two of you’ve been really close as of late, so I assumed-”

“We’re not dating!” Hop manages to speak, somewhat calmly, as his laughs die down. “We’re just really close friends, that’s all! Besides, Victor’s been teasing me for my crush on- okay maybe that’s a story for another time.”

Bede feels like the world’s about to swallow him whole. His expression must make him look like a complete idiot, because Hop collapses to the ground in another fit of giggles. Sylveon nudges her head to his, which doesn’t seem to help Hop out in any way. If anything, it makes him giggle even  _ more.  _

“Oh my god, I can’t believe you thought we were dating,” Hop laughs. And then that expression drops completely. And it’s replaced with absolute horror. “Oh my god, you thought we were dating this whole time.”

Hop pushes himself to his feet. “That explains everything, oh my god.”

“Am I missing something?” Bede asks.

“Yes! You’re missing everything! How am I going to dig us out of this mess…” Hop mutters, as one of his hands ruggles through his hair in confusion. 

It’s Sonia who interrupts them. “Hop, come on! Your food’s here!” 

And that’s how Bede gets roped into a meal with the professor and her student.

\--

Bede winds up just ordering a smoothie to sip on while he waits for them to finish their meals.

It’s a repeat of a conversation he’s had way too many times- How’s the gym? It’s fine, it’s just busy. Do you like it? He’s starting to. And he knows he’s probably going to repeat this exact same conversation many more times in the years to come.

But he doesn’t expect the absolute curveball that Sonia throws him in the middle of this conversation.

“Ah, Victor would’ve loved to be here. Every time we talk to him it’s always Bede this, Bede that,” She sighs. Hop chokes on his meal. Bede nearly spills his drink over.

“I mean, Victor’s just curious about how you’ve been doing and all that-” Hop sputters.

“And every time I see you, he’s always around, or you’re always talking about him,” Sonia goes on.

“I don’t talk about him nearly that much,” Bede says, completely deadpan.

“You do,” the two of them deadpan back.

“He’s my rival, of course I talk about-”

“Ugh,” Sonia groans as loudly as she can, so much so that it drowns out the rest of Bede’s sentence completely. “You trainers are all so dull. Rival this, rival that, whatever, just say you’re friends who have pokemon battles sometimes! It’s not that hard!”

Bede opts to say nothing. He watches as the two turn back to their meals. The silence lasts for about a minute before it starts to get unbearable, so he sets his brain on autopilot and decides perhaps it would be best to initiate some small talk, just this once.

“How’s Victor?”  _ Oh god, he should never be on autopilot ever again, literally any question would’ve been better. _

__ Hop gives him a knowing grin. (Oh my god, Hop knows? Hop definitely knows.) Sonia raises a brow. (She knows too. He’s screwed.)

Hop pulls out a rotom phone, taps on it a few times, and presents his screen to Bede. It’s his messages with Victor. 

_ HEY!!! How’s the training? _

_ 22:21 _

_ It’s ok, some weird shit happened ytd, legs ache from cycling _

_ 22:25 _

_ I thought u hated cycling?? _

_ 22:25 _

_ You are right _

_ I hate cycling _

_ You know what I miss? _

_ Wyndon food _

_ You know who I mis _

“Oh shit, wait, gimme a sec,” Hop says, damn near slapping the phone out of Bede’s hands and scrambling to get it back. Bede doesn’t resist. He watches Hop press his finger sharply into the screen, hold it there, and then make a few more taps. He scrolls through the next few messages, and once he seems to appraise them fully, he hands the phone back. “Just read from this point, don’t scroll up.”

Bede nods.

_ Send pics _

_ 22:30 _

_ [IMG_0046.jpg] _

_ Suffering! _

_ 22:32 _

__ It’s a picture of Victor leaned against a wooden pillar of some kind. It almost looks as if he’s in a… dojo? His unruly white hair’s been tied back into a tight bun, and the roots of his hair are growing back to their natural colour- a dark brown. It’s surprising to find his normal wardrobe swapped out for a bright yellow top, a loose white shirt underneath.

He looks exhausted, but he’s giving a weak smile for the camera, and also a thumbs up.

The picture is also extremely blurred, as if it was taken just as the phone fell from his fingers. He stares at the picture longer than he’d like to admit.

“ _ He’s so into this _ ,” Sonia whispers, loud enough for Bede to hear.

It dawns on him that he has absolutely no idea what is going on in these messages, or what Hop wants him to discern.

“So where is he?”

“The Armor of Isle!”

“The what?”

“The Armor of Isle! I’m not too sure either, but I’m heading out there in a few days myself. Apparently it’s where some pretty strong trainers go to get even stronger. Leon went a few years back too.”

“What on earth is he doing there?”

“Idunno, training? Not much else to do there, anyways. He said he’s staying for uh… Actually, he doesn’t know either. But apart from hating the physical activity, he said he’s actually enjoying himself quite a bit.”

Bede hates that stupid part of himself that gets actually paranoid for a second- First it was Victor moving back to Aloha, which could still very much be a possibility, and now it’s him leaving behind mainland Galar to spend the rest of his life training and being forced to cycle after rabid slowpokes. It sounds ridiculous now that he thinks it out loud, but he  _ hates  _ that the fear even existed in his head to begin with. 

“Oh yeah, Hop, about the trip to the Armor of Isle,” Sonia begins, launching into a lengthy briefing on the importance of Dynamax energy-related research, and Bede finds himself left to his thoughts.

\--

It’s 2am and bede’s still stuck in his head, musing over every possible outcome of his predicament, his brain furiously reliving the revelations of the morning. He has no idea what he’s in for.

He has never considered the possibility of Victor feeling the same. He does not even believe that possibility exists. It’s 2am, Bede is violently in love with a boy so bright that his only equal is the sun itself, and he feels like absolutely, he’d try to get even closer and closer, despite the inevitable burn. And then there is the ugly truth- Victor needs someone better. Maybe not Hop. But someone who isn’t stuck trying to fix his own mistakes, someone who has a better grip on their own damn life, someone he deserves.

_ But what if he really does feel the same?  _ His heart lurches, as he harkens back to the talk with Sonia and Hop.

_ Then he’s an absolute idiot. _

__ He must look pathetic, he thinks, sprawled out on his bed, longing for his quote-unquote rival whom he’s been avoiding for weeks, the sheets half spilling over one side of the bed. 

When his phone buzzes from beside his pillow, he actually flinches as he scrambles to reach for said phone. He doesn’t text people frequently enough, so every time he gets a notification of some kind, he expects it to be something important.

_ Hey Bde _

_ *Bede sorry _

_ Was wondering, does Opal have a phone? If she does can I have her no., kind of impt _

[02:30]

His first instinct is  _ holy shit.  _ Victor is texting him. Well, mainly so he can text someone else, but in the moment, he takes what he can get. It feels almost as if he’s back to normal. Before this utter mess of feelings he fell into. His second thought is:  _ Victor, it’s 2 in the morning. Why do you have to text my teacher so urgently at 2 in the morning? _

_ Why? _

_ She does. But she doesn’t check it often. _

_ I can help you contact her too if you need me to. _

[02:30]

_ Thank you so muchh _

_ So I was not sleeping and minding my own business _

_ And I heard something at my window _

_ [IMG_0047.jpg] _

The photo loads. Curled up and leaned against the side of Victor’s face is a Comfey. It’s fast asleep, and Bede notices the ever so faint tears in some of the flowers making up its body. Victor’s face is half cut off in the photo, and it’s rather poorly lit, but Bede manages to make out some of his features. His hair is darker now, its white colour slowly being overtaken by a dark brown.

He looks exhausted. His eyelids look heavy, and there are bags under his eyes.

  
  


_ I gave it some potions, some berries. _

_ It’s doing much better now, but I still feel it’s not doing so good, wanted to check in with someone who knows fairy types better than me cause like _

_ Yeah _

[02:34]

If there’s a type of pokemon Victor’s completely clueless about, of course it’d be fairy. He inspects the picture of Comfey more closely, doing his utmost and ultimately failing to stop himself from glancing over at Victor’s face as he does so.

_ I think the potions were a huge help. _

_ Let it rest. It’ll probably heal up a bit more by the time you wake up. _

_ If it’s still weak, try bringing it out into the sun tomorrow morning, make sure it doesn’t do anything too strenuous. _

[02:36]

There’s a pause, and Victor starts typing.

_ Alright, thanks Bede!! _

_ You’re the best _

_ I’ll treat you to a meal soon _

[02:37]

Bede’s heart thrums against his chest.  _ Shit,  _ he thinks,  _ I love you.  _

_ If you say so. _

_ Still need me to ask Opal? _

[02:38]

And again,  _ I somehow adore you this much. _

_ Nah, I trust u _

_ I’ll let u know how it goes tomorrow _

[02:38]

The silence drags on. Bede feels like he’s been suspended in this one moment for an eternity.

_ Good night, Victor. _

[02:40]

_ Gnight Bede _

[IMG_0048.jpg]

[02:41]

Attached, a photo of Victor, still with the Comfey at his side, but now throwing up a peace sign, an easy smile over his features.  _ Victor will be the death of him. _

\--

Morning comes, and it quickly bleeds into the afternoon, and Victor forgets to give him an update on the Comfey. His day is uneventful. He checks his phone a hundred times more than usual, to the point where his trainers are worried that something urgent’s come up.

Training ends quickly, and it’s 1pm when he finds himself completely and utterly restless, nothing to do, and too worried that he’d push his pokemon too far if he went back into the gym to do some extra work. He does not know what compels him to call for a corviknight taxi and take a trip to Spikemuth.

He regrets it almost immediately. When he was younger, Rose would bring him out on all manner of occasions. He recalls sitting politely at the ex-chairman’s side at numerous dinner parties. He recalls battling senior trainers at the ex-chairman’s command. He remembers the ugly stares from the other gym challengers in the arena.

But here, draped in the telltale colours of a fairy-type trainer, he has never felt more out of place in the city of Spikemuth, loud music blaring from speakers, the streets dark and eerie, alleyways leading off to seemingly nowhere. 

Right, now it was time to see if he could somehow find Marnie.

“Ain’t this a surprise,” Or perhaps, Marnie would find him first. He warily turns to face her. Her arms are crossed. She doesn’t look mad. But rather, confused.

“Did you expect me?” Bede asks. Why else would Marnie be standing around by the Corviknight landing bay?

“No. Just knew somebody was comin’. We don’t get visitors around here often, thought I ought to check it out,” She shrugs. “What brings you to Spikemuth?”

“I just-” He bites his tongue. Something about this just feels so off for him. “Needed someone to talk to.”

It’s awfully silent after that, and when he finally risks making eye contact with her once more, her eyes are wide. But she quickly clears her throat, and beckons for him to follow her.

“Come on. We can talk at my house, Piers is out on an errand,” She says. He chases after her.

\--

“Are you still mad at me?”

“I was never really mad at you, y’know.”

Bede’s seated at the dining table, while Marnie prepares them each a cup of tea. He’s fiddling with his fingers uncertainly, still not quite sure why he felt an urge to come here. Maybe it’s just Marnie. Maybe he finds talking to her relaxing in a sense. It helps him unravel his thoughts.

“Oh.”

“Yeah. Now are you going to tell me what’s on your mind, or do I need to force it out of you?” She says, maybe a little more forcefully than she should. He doesn’t even get a word out. “This is about Victor, isn’t it?”

“Of course it is.”

“What on Earth did you do this time?” Have y’spoken to him?”

“No.”

“Then what is it?”

“I really like him.”

“Obviously, what’s new?” Marnie groans. She sets down the tea in front of him.

“I don’t know what to do about it?” He tries to sound more certain. It comes out like a question instead. His voice cracks too, which doesn’t help his case at all.

She sighs. He feels awfully young suddenly, as if she’s aged 10 years just by sitting there and listening to his ramblings. He feels kind of bad about it, actually.

“Look, the way I see it, you’ve got two options here. One- You get some courage and tell him how you’re feelin’.”

She must see the way he grimaces at the thought.

“Or two, you get over it, pretend none of this ever happened.”

“I don’t want to get over it,” He blurts out. Damn himself.

She smiles knowingly. “Then it looks like you’ve got to go with option one.”

Bede pales. He grips his cup a little bit too firmly. Then promptly lets go of it when Marnie fixes him with a death glare.

“It’s not going to go well, Marnie. I’m just going to get turned down,” He says.

“Or he could feel the same.”

“And why the hell would he do that?” Bede snaps. Marnie freezes. Bede takes this as an opportunity to go on. “Have you seen me? Sure, I’m a great trainer and all, but have you forgotten all the shit I did? I’m not a good person. Never really was. And it’s going to take a hell of a lot longer for me to make up for all that bullshit.”

She’s quiet. He gulps down half his tea, and briefly ponders whether or not he should apologise for the sudden outburst. And then she speaks up.

“Bede, you know he doesn’t think of you that way.”

“You don’t know that.”

“Is it so hard for you to believe that you deserve some form of happiness?”

_ Ah, there it is.  _ It hits him like a truck.

\--

Maybe it starts when he’s eight. Chairman Rose shows up, talks to each of the kids, fake smiles plastered all over their faces, and then his eyes fall on him- The outcast, pouting in a corner and playing with whatever leftover toys he can get his hands on. They talk. Bede smiles for the first time in months. The chairman leaves, and Bede clutches in his hands a pokeball. The other kids glare at him in envy. 

Rose visits more frequently after that, and each time, he asks to see how Hatterene fairs. “The little one’s growing tougher every day. You’re raising him well.” 

He’s doing well, he’s doing well, he’s doing  _ well.  _ He’s made somebody proud.  _ He’s  _ proud.

“You’ll make a fine trainer one day, Bede,” Rose tells him. 

The others whisper behind his back. Rose only likes him for his skill. If he hadn’t had a way with Pokemon, Rose would’ve not given him a second thought. That’s all he has.  _ There’s nothing else worthwhile about him.  _

He starts doing whatever he can. Continues to train his Hatterene. He refuses to be left behind, he wants Rose to see him for who he is. He wants Rose to just once, praise him again. Maybe he’s just lonely. But this makes him happy, and that’s enough.

Rose gets him a watch, and he wears it with pride. It feels as if he’d die if he took it off.

He’d do anything to prove his worth. And one day, he breaks. The remnants of Stow-on-Side’s monument lay at his feet. Victor and Sonia are watching him have a breakdown at Rose’s feet, and it’s the most shame he’s ever felt. He wants to implode. 

“I am truly disappointed.”

It takes everything he has to not tear up right there.

But he does, much later, in Rose’s office in Hammerlocke. Rose tells him to present his arm. He does. He feels the cool metal of his watch as it slips off his wrist, and he watches as Rose discards it into a bin at the edge of his desk. He stops himself from reaching for it as it falls.

“You’ve embarrassed me, Bede. I’m afraid you’re no longer welcome here.”

“What?”

\--

The other trainers glare at him whenever they see him. Even as he stands before Victor in the middle of Wyndon’s arena, he does his best to ignore the jeers from the audience. Not once does he look Victor in the eye. He’s afraid of whatever expression Victor might show.

\--

But then there’s Victor, who’s smiling at him after their battle, who’s holding his hand out for a handshake. If there’s any venom in him, Bede can’t sense it. When he takes his hand in his, it’s the most natural thing ever.

“That was an amazing battle, Bede!”

It’s here, Bede realises, that everything will be alright.

\--

“I’m an idiot.” 

“I’m aware.”

“I need to talk to him,” He says. “Before it’s too late. Before I do something else I regret.”

“How are you goin’ to get there?” She asks, watching as he scrambles to get his things and nearly trips over his own feet trying to make it to the front door.

“I can think of a few ways!” He yells from the door.

\--

He catches Hop just in time. He’s got a lab coat thrown on sloppily over his shoulders, and a fully packed luggage is slung over his shoulder as if it weighs nothing. Maybe what’s more concerning is the giant blue wolf at his side, helping carry even more luggage.

“Wha- Oh, Bede! Didn’t see you there, what’s up?”

“You’re headed off to the Isle of Armor, right?” Bede says, a bit too eagerly, but to hell with it. 

“Yeah! Wait, you wanna come?” Bede nods. “Oh, uh, I don’t know about that, I’ve only got this one permit, and normally you need like, a formal invitation, so-”

“I need to talk to Victor,” He says, stepping closer and planting his hands firmly on both Hop’s shoulders.

“Talk about wha-  _ Oh,  _ like  _ talk  _ to Victor.”

“Yes. Talk to him.”

“Like, really  _ talk  _ to him,” Hop feels like he’s going slack in his arms. “Alright! We’re getting you into the Isle of Armor whether those guards like it or not!”

\--

When Hop had said that sentence, in retrospect, it had sounded a lot like Hop was going to sneak him in. Maybe even battle his way in. Bede’s ashamed to admit he’d kept a hand hovering by his side where he’d kept his pokeballs the whole time Hop was trying to talk his way in.

It turns out, a so-called exclusive island called the ‘Isle of Armor’ wasn’t very exclusive to begin with. All it had taken was for Hop to simply throw in the sentences, “Oh, this is my assistant, Bede. Yeah I’m the professor’s assistant. Yeah, but I still get to have my own assistant. No he’s not that gym leader guy from TV, he gets that a lot.”

He takes a glance around the island. The sand feels soft beneath his sneakers, and he actually wishes he had a bit more time to take in the scenery. 

Hop begins to lay his luggage down, and he does a quick scan to make sure all his gear’s in place. He notices Bede watching him after about a minute.

“Oh, this’ll probably take a while. You can go ahead and find Victor! It’ll probably be less awkward for you two if I wasn’t standing around watching your heart-to-heart.” 

_ It’s not a heart to heart,  _ Bede wants to retort, but then he realises, maybe it is, and also Hop’s done him a huge favour, and he deserved more than a little respect after every stunt he’d pulled on him. So he nods, and resolves to find wherever Victor’s holed up.

It doesn’t take very long either- the imposing dojo is hard to miss, not too far from the corviknight bay. He breaks into a light jog, which quickly turns into a sprint, and he’s being driven forward purely on adrenaline. Perhaps some exhaustion will do him good. Make him less nervous later on. He makes it to the steps of the dojo quickly, and he steels himself, drawing in a heavy breath, and thrusting the doors open with as much strength as he can muster into his arms. 

And the dojo’s empty, because of course it is. There goes his plans for a grand entry and a dramatic confrontation. The back door’s been left ajar, and as he listens closely, he hears the telltale sounds of battle. If he knows anything about Victor, it’s that he’s always going to be near a battle of some kind, either cheering from the frontlines or actively participating in said battle. So he walks forward, down the long path that lies beyond, and he feels like he’s been hit by a gust of fresh air when he reaches the battlefield.

Gathered around and cheering on the combatants are a group of boisterous trainers, all dressed in yellow uniforms, and he pushes his way to the front. A few shoot him puzzled glances, but they don’t last long, as their attention is quickly turned back to the battle.

On one end, there’s a long-haired blonde kid who looks not much older than himself, a ridiculous hat atop his head, and a smug grin on his face. A dynamaxed Slowbro is at his side, though it’s looking rather worn out at this point of the battle. 

“You can’t best us that easily,  _ champion!”  _ He shouts with a mocking tone.

“Watch me!” A familiar voice yells out from the other side of the arena. Bede’s never turned to look at something faster. It’s been so long, and there he is. Victor, clad in the same yellow uniform, his Skuntank dynamaxed and looking as healthy as ever. He’s going to win.

The crowd continues to cheer them on.

“Get him, Victor!”

“Come on, Avery, show him the results of our training!”

And Bede doesn’t know what compels him to join. Because he does.

“DESTROY HIM, VICTOR!” Bede yells at the top of his lungs, and he swears he sees Victor do a double take as he spots him. 

“B-Bede?!” He stutters. Even Skuntank looks surprised to see him. “How did you- Why-?”

“Ahem,” The slowbro trainer clears his throat. “We’re in the middle of a battle.”

“WIN THE DAMN BATTLE SO I CAN CONFESS TO YOU WITHOUT INTERRUPTION!” Bede screams. 

Victor looks like he’s going to burn up. He’s looking at Bede wide-eyed, and then he’s dropping his gaze to the floor, almost as if he’s embarrassed to make eye contact. It’s a good look on him, Bede thinks. But then Victor bunches up his fists, turns back to his opponent, and smiles.

“I’m going to make this quick so Bede can confess to me!”

Bede sinks to the ground and buries his head in his hands. Oh my god, he’s in love with an absolute moron, a fool, an idiot. He’s never going to let him live this down. But Victor makes good on his promise, and with a swift slash, the boy’s slowbro goes down. Victor’s announced the winner, and the moment he’s allowed off the arena, Victor breaks into a mad sprint and grabs Bede by the arm. He’s dragged back inside the dojo, and it’s quiet here, everyone else still outside anticipating the next battle.

It’s too quiet. Victor looks incredibly flustered, but still invigorated by the thrill of the last battle. Bede’s just… The same. But an absolute mess inside. 

“You- You’re going to confess?”

“That’s the plan.”

“Okay. I’m listening,” Victor says, nodding. He crosses his arms, and shoots Bede an irritatingly smug grin. This is awful.

“If you’re going to be like this, I’m going home.”

“No! I’m sorry, please go on. Sincerely,” Victor plants his hand on Bede’s shoulder. He feels like he’s burning up. He must look like a complete mess right now.

“Victor,” He starts. Alright so far. “I despise you.”

“Is this a hate confession?” 

“No, shut up. Let me finish. You are the most irritating person I’ve ever met. You have been an obstacle every step of the way, and even now, I’m thinking up strategies on how to defeat you in battle.”

He pauses. Victor’s gaze is drilling holes into his skull. He exhales. Here goes nothing.

“And you have made me happier than anyone else has. I’m painfully in love with you, and everyone but you knows it.” 

Victor looks like his brain’s short-circuited. He doesn’t say anything. Bede taps his feet impatiently.

“Well?” He urges. 

“This is real, right?”

“Yes.”

“This isn’t a prank?”

“Victor, have you ever seen me try to ‘prank’ somebody?”

Victor’s quiet again. Then after a while, he lets out a chuckle, which erupts into a loud burst of laughter. Bede feels like a clown.

“Bede, you beat me. I wanted to say this first,” He smiles. “Literally everyone else knew how much I was pining over you.”

“What?”

“Don’t ‘what’ me, I just said your feelings are reciprocated.”

“I know,” Bede says. He just never expected Victor to actually… Feel the same. And now he’s just left there, dumbfounded, completely frozen with Victor’s hand on his shoulder. And it takes about a minute for it to set in, the realisation that- oh my god, Victor’s here. Victor feels the same.  _ Victor feels the same.  _

“Can I kiss you?” 

_ Of course please do,  _ Bede wants to say, but is brain is obviously not on the same page as the rest of his body, because here’s what he does instead- He grips Victor by his collar and pulls him in, and their lips finally,  _ finally  _ meet. It’s messy, he doesn’t know what he’s doing, but he feels Victor’s lips move against his, and that’s all he could ask for. Victor’s lips are softer than he’d imagined, and as they part, Bede watches him through half-lidded eyes, as his mouth eases back into a grin. He wants to do it again.

“Are we dating now?” Victor asks. He sounds hopeful, excited.

“Of course we’re dating,” Bede snaps back. But his aggression doesn’t last long. He can’t help himself from smiling as he hooks his arms around Victor’s head, their lips slowly gravitating back towards one another, and-

“Hey, anyone here? Oh hey- I’m so sorry!” Hop. Is standing at the door. “I mean, um… Congrats?”

“Hop, I’m going to kill you,” Bede mutters.

\--

Being in love with Victor is the easiest thing in the world, Bede comes to realise. They live apart. Bede loves Ballonlea. Victor’s work pretty much forces him to stay somewhere in Wyndon. But on their off days, it’s common to find Victor waiting for him by the exit of the gym. It’s common to find Bede waiting for Victor at the cafe nearest to Wydon’s stadium.

They meet up with Marnie and Hop. Hop, who gives them each an excited hug every time he sees them. Marnie, who looks way too smug about being the one to push Bede into actually getting his act together. He’s thankful for them, he realises. 

It’s really easy, falling in love with Victor. He’s an idiot sometimes. Most of the time. He makes jokes no one finds funny. He knows how to get on Bede’s nerves, and he relishes the act sometimes. They bicker sometimes. Bede wouldn’t trade it for a thing.

\--

Another cycle of the gym challenge comes and goes. 

Bede stands at one end of the arena, Victor at the other, and the crowd cheers from the stands. Fireworks erupt.

“I’m not going to go easy on you, Victor,” He says.

“Neither will I,” Victor grins. “Loser pays for the next meal.”

Bede laughs. “Whatever you say.”

  
  
  



End file.
